The 33rd annual meeting and business forum of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) commenced in Yerevan on May 14. This event, a cornerstone in the global financial and economic landscape, hosts high-level discussions on contemporary themes and strategic decisions regarding the Bank's development.
The RA Ministry of Finance under the leadership of Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan is widely involved in the forum. The series of meetings of representatives of the Ministry started with a meeting between Minister Hovhannisyan and EBRD Board of Directors member Jan Willem van den Wall.
The latter was followed by the meeting of the RA Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan and the RA Central Bank President Martin Galstyan with the delegation headed by EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso.
The parties discussed a number of key issues, such as the expansion of bilateral cooperation, Armenia's involvement in regional initiatives, EBRD's support to forcibly displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh, Sisian-Kajaran road construction project, EBRD's capital increase, etc.
The Minister of Finance had meetings with the delegations of the Republics of Egypt and Lithuania. The parties discussed the possibilities of cooperation at the departmental level.
The RA Deputy Finance Minister Eduard Hakobyan also held a meeting with the delegation of the Republic of San Marino. An agreement was reached to initiate the first official contacts between representatives of the governments, as well as to study the directions of cooperation within the framework of the EBRD and the possibility of starting the process of signing bilateral economic agreements.
During the EBRD annual meeting and business forum on the same day, a signing ceremony for the project to establish the customs and logistics center of Syunik occurred.
The document was signed by the RA Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan from the Armenian side and the EBRD Vice President Matteo Patrone from the EBRD side.
The plan envisages establishing a Customs and Logistics Center in Syunik region with EBRD financing. The center will increase the efficiency and transparency of customs operations, improve the quality of service delivery and reduce the time required for customs clearance services as a result of the implementation of the "One Window".
